MSc Human Resource Management

At UEA we believe that meaningful work is key to human happiness, and we see the practice of HR as the practice of improving employee self-development. On this course you will learn how to make a difference to people’s lives and support their wellbeing at work, ensuring that productivity is balanced with quality of life.

You don’t need to have studied business or human resources before to excel on this course. You just need to be interested in the field and to be passionate about helping people achieve their potential.

You’ll gain an in-depth understanding of the human aspect of business and organisational behaviour. You’ll learn how to build positive human cultures in workplaces, ones that enable people to be more productive and happier. You’ll learn how to inspire people so they can do their best work and feel more fulfilled.

It’s an intensive and specialised course that will set the scene for a successful career working with people. You’ll gain subject expertise and practical skills in all the key HR functions. You’ll learn to ask and propose answers to questions such as, how do humans flourish in the work space? What are the best ways to improve performance? How do you keep employees inspired and motivated? How can you increase loyalty? You’ll learn to evaluate and design new ways of working, and new workplaces so people become happier and more productive.

Insight into the other business functions is vital for a successful career in HR. For that reason you’ll also gain a broad exposure to related business skills and topics, such as accounting, finance, marketing, management and operations. This enables you to gain insight into the perspective of the people working in those specialisms – essential for your later career.

The world of business is global and you’ll find the MSc Human Resources Management has a global outlook, in terms of our culture, our cohort and the course content. You will study your subject from an international perspective, and you’ll work alongside students from all over the world. This enables you to approach your subject from different angles. It also means you’ll graduate ready to succeed in international settings.

UEA leads the way in research into wellbeing at work, and makes key contributions to national organisations such as the What Works Centre for Wellbeing. As specialists in this area, naturally we take student wellbeing very seriously. We work hard to ensure all our students have a positive and fulfilling experience, and graduate ready to pursue their ambitions with confidence.

About

The way people work is changing rapidly and there’s never been a more exciting time to study and work in human resources.

Gone is the job for life, and in its place we have the gig economy, flexible working, portfolio careers and working lives that are longer than ever before. Those entering the workforce today demand more than just a steady paycheck. They want job satisfaction and to feel that they are doing meaningful work. The nature of contracts is changing, training programmes are becoming more digital and HR systems becoming more complex. Corporate environments are changing as multinationals try to emulate start-up culture.

On this Master’s you will learn to face the challenges of a changing HR world, and how to be an innovator in the field. You’ll get an introduction to the key theories, techniques and practices, and learn how to evaluate and ultilise them. You’ll even learn how to develop your own.

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Course Reference Number: 664034

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You’ll experience a variety of assessment methods, including exams, coursework, group work and presentations.

You will be able to submit formative and summative work for assessment, and you’ll receive feedback to help you identify areas for improvement and areas of strength.

Structure

Your studies will begin with Welcome Week. Here you’ll be introduced to each of the key areas of business, as well as human resources. You’ll also meet the team of academics and researchers you’ll be working with throughout your degree, and have the chance to get to know your fellow students.

Your first semester is a great chance to explore different areas of human resources, and discover the areas you might like to investigate further during the rest of your studies and later career. You’ll gain a firm foundation in both your subject and other essential business functions. You’ll do this through the compulsory modules Accounting and Financial Management, Managing People and Organisations, and Strategic Marketing Management.

For example, in Managing People and Organisations you’ll explore the theory and practice of organisational functions from recruitment to retirement. This spans induction and training programmes, performance approaches, career management, as well as emerging HR specialisms such as women in leadership, diversity, and the psychology of loyalty at work. You’ll also have the chance to study topics such as industrial and workplace psychology, organisational culture and corporate psychology, motivation and job satisfaction, employment law and contracts, learning programmes and HR systems. You’ll explore procedural aspects of HR and develop your interpersonal skills.

In your second semester you’ll be able to start building your own specialisms by choosing from optional modules such as Developing Future Leaders, Managing Across the Globe, Advancing Performance and HR, and Innovation Management.

Unlike other Master’s courses where your third semester is spent on independent study, on this Master’s, you’ll benefit from a third semester of taught modules. You will spend your third semester consolidating your learning and further developing your critical thinking skills with modules such as Business Leadership and Change Management and Integrated Business Decisions.

You’ll also take Management Skills and Personal Development, which runs across all three semesters. Here you will study the theory and practice of good management. You’ll also focus on developing your own personal brand. This ensures you leave equipped not only to help shape the careers of others, but ready to shape your own career too. We’ll work together to identify your 10 key strengths and then you’ll explore ways to show evidence of these strengths. You’ll study inspiring career stories, from JK Rowling to James Dyson, discovering the principles of success and applying them to your own life and career plan.

The course has been carefully designed to make sure you graduate with in-depth knowledge of all the key areas of HR. In all your modules you’ll look at issues from a domestic and international perspective. This ensures you leave us ready to excel on the international stage, with skills that are relevant anywhere.

Teaching and Learning

You will benefit from research-led teaching, learning from academics who are part of the Employment Systems and Institutions (ESI) research group. ESI is a group of applied social and behavioural scientists dedicated to examining the dynamics of human behaviour at work. Their specialisms include productivity, job satisfaction, appraisals, and wellbeing at work. They regularly hold talks and seminars that are open to the public as well as students, where you can meet and debate with people already working in human resources.

You’ll learn through a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops, masterclasses and independent study. There is no dissertation module on this Master’ s, which means you’ll benefit from a greater number of taught modules.

Assessment for Year 1

You’ll experience a variety of assessment methods, including exams, coursework, group work and presentations.

You will be able to submit formative and summative work for assessment, and you’ll receive feedback to help you identify areas for improvement and areas of strength.

Compulsory Modules

MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS

Code NBS-7024A

Credits 20

The purpose of this module is to provide you with an overview of people management – including topics from both Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management - and permit you to explore the question of; if people are your business, why is managing people in an organisational context so difficult? In the module, you will learn about the process and development of the so-called ‘soft’ management competencies as well as hard management. You will focus on the development of these skills in order to increase productivity and performance as well as develop and manage people in different business contexts. You will begin with an overview of different organisational behaviours and how these can be managed within the organisation. You will learn key frameworks from organisational behaviour and human resource management and how these concepts that for instance can include leadership, team working, motivation and diversity can be applied to business scenarios. You will realise both soft and hard aspects of management in managing individual people as well as acquiring knowledge about key HRM function and the role of line managers in managing staff. On successfully completing this module you will have gained experience of discussing differing key organisational and HRM concepts and how they can apply in different settings resulting in different outcomes. You will have gained a sensitivity to the diversity of people and organisations. You will be able to analyse organisational contexts and how people are managed to understand how you yourself would like as an individual to be managed and how this knowledge can be applied to others in a variety of different business settings.

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7025A

Credits 20

The main objective of this module is to equip you with an in-depth understanding of the strategic marketing planning process. You will be able to apply marketing principles in a strategic context and develop both a theoretical and practical knowledge of strategic marketing. A key feature is that you’ll consider approaches to strategic marketing from an international perspective.

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7041X

Credits 20

How do organisations change and develop, and how do the workers respond to change? Why do projects fail to deliver the intended results, or come in over-budget or late? These questions are essential to the study of organisations’ growth and survival. Organisations are not static, and you are likely to find yourselves in organisations that are undergoing change. Throughout this module you will discover a wealth of different approaches to achieving change. You’ll gain a firm understanding of both the practice and theory of leading and managing change in contemporary organisations. You’ll also learn how to communicate ideas, principles and theories, by written, oral and visual means. You’ll begin with an overview of how organisations are managed and lead. Then you’ll delve deeper, uncovering core concepts such as planned and emergent change. You’ll be exploring the leadership of change as a collective activity that can be shared among different people, and you’ll be finding out ways in which the leader, the followers, and the practice of leadership can become one in ‘co-creation’. By using different tools to analyse the organisation within its environment, you’ll become expert in finding what needs to be changed, and deciding how change can be achieved. You’ll learn through a mixture of lectures, seminars, and self-directed study. As you study you’ll put your new knowledge into practice, gaining experience in communicating your ideas in small group work, as well as through written work and presentations. On successful completion of the module, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to take leadership studies to the next level, drilling down into specialist areas of your choosing. You’ll develop your research, writing and presentation skills. And you’ll be able to communicate your ideas more effectively, putting your thinking to the test by sharing it with others.

INTEGRATED BUSINESS DECISIONS

Code NBS-7034X

Credits 20

This is a module with a twist - building on core skills such as team-working, marketing, accounting and strategy, you’ll apply your knowledge and work in teams to win different ‘games’ – the military has previously used such games to teach strategy and tactics. Updated to reflect the international business environment, you’ll be using each game as a way to embed your knowledge and see if your team emerges as the winner!

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7026A

Credits 20

Do you want to be fluent in business? Accounting is the language of business and financial management is critical to the survival of businesses. If you want to become knowledgeable in two of the core areas in business such as accounting and financial management, then this module is for you. Throughout the module you will discover why accounting is considered a management information system and why managing the financial aspects of the business will contribute to business success. This is a semester long introductory module and no previous study of accounting or finance is required. The module will be divided in two parts: in the first part you will study accounting and in the second part of the module you will study financial management. In this module, individual study coupled with a series of lectures and seminars will give you a very good overview of the accounting and finance methods and concepts. In accounting you will learn how to read and interpret financial statements, you will acknowledge the importance of understanding and managing costs and the importance of liquidity. In financial management you will learn how investment appraisal and valuation works as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using different forms of equity and debt. All the knowledge gained by taking this module will put you at an advantage in any business meeting, benefiting your future career.

Optional A Modules

(60 credits)

INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7033B

Credits 20

The module aims to develop your overall understanding of how a company’s success depends on its innovation strategy and management. Results of both theoretical and empirical research will enable you to understand the central terms and mechanisms in this area and to analyse companies’ innovation strategies in a holistic way. Analysing innovations at the intersection between market needs and technological possibilities, you should be able to develop suggestions for innovation strategies and their implementation. You will cover both the economic and managerial aspects of innovation. You will get an in-depth understanding of key aspects of innovation processes and their institutional and strategic implications. Learning that innovation is a cross-functional task involving all corporate functions like R&D, marketing, production and finance is a central objective of the module. Using exemplary innovation case studies students will first acquire knowledge of key terms and definitions of innovation research. The emergence of systematic innovation in the corporate environment will be discussed by studying the history of certain industries. At the organizational level, ways to leverage innovation internally and with external partners will be analysed. You will learn about different sources of innovation as well as roles and functions in the innovation process. Key concepts like open innovation and user innovation will be discussed thoroughly. Your practical applications and implications will be pointed out. Finally, the module will discuss the issue of how to appropriate the returns from innovation, with special focus on patents and markets for technology.

MANAGING ACROSS THE GLOBE

Code NBS-7037B

Credits 20

This module is designed to sensitise you to the context specific nature of the discipline of management and help you uncover the diversity among managerial values and practices across the world. It seeks to equip you with the knowledge and skills that will give them the confidence to be members of organisations anywhere on the globe.

DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS

Code NBS-7038B

Credits 20

Developing future leaders is about talent management in organisations who focus on management recruitment, selection and succession for the next generation. It is about growing your leaders through recruitment to succession, but this is an endeavour that many organisations struggle with in a competitive global labour market. Through uniting your individual perspectives of a career with organisational perspectives of career models, you will gain insight not only in how talent management works in global contexts but how you could engage with this process in your future career. In this module, you will learn about talent management and the differing perspectives on career management. You will learn theoretical tools that organisations can use to help develop future leaders. You will also individually assess and evaluate for yourself different career models and approaches that organisations can use. On successfully completing this module, you will have gained a greater insight into what you value and appreciate in relation to your future career. However, you will have skills and knowledge that help you understand how talent management programmes are used to help develop future leaders and communicate that knowledge to others in different business contexts.

ADVANCED PERFORMANCE AND HR

Code NBS-7039B

Credits 20

This module will provide you with theoretical concepts and practical knowledge surrounding performance and Human Resources Management, developing your understanding of the evidence based management practices that contribute to improvement of performance in individuals, teams and organisations.

Optional B Modules

(20 credits)

MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Code NBS-7031X

Credits 20

This module is designed to give you a solid set of management skills through which your learning from across all modules develops into a coherent whole. The focus will be on developing management skills recognised as important for securing meaningful employment in the global marketplace appropriate to the Master’s level of qualification. This is an applied vision and skill development module, focusing on the development of the new skill sets for managers of the 21st century. It is designed as a learning environment and a management trainee program that focuses on the development of knowledge and skills for global leaders. A core belief underlying our approach, demonstrated in interactive sessions, stems from the Chinese proverb, “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” A variety of methods will be used to simulate a real-world business environment such as collaborative learning, lectures, management training videos, presentations, films, discussions, role-plays, and workshops. This module is one of the few management courses in the UK that builds on unique features, such as individual customization, creative skill development, project based learning, and positive change. We will have intensive brainstorming sessions, problem based learning plus facilitated and self-directed action learning to help you and your colleagues develop and apply management skills for your career in the 21st century. In today’s global, rapidly changing knowledge-based economy, learning and experimenting with management skills and personal development is one of the smartest investments you can make for your career.

GLOBAL BUSINESS

Code NBS-7088X

Credits 20

This module provides students within a comprehensive understanding of Global Business. We examine the essentials of Global Business, including – the environment, strategy, organisation and management. A central feature of the module is the emphasis on real-world scenarios and problems associated with Global Business. Teaching methods includes - case studies, in-class activities and the use of learning technologies. An example of the latter is the game-based learning platform Kahoot! Students will be encouraged to critically analyse the Global Business Environment and entry strategies in Global Business. Managing Global Business across different business functions together with the opportunities and challenges faced by management will be considered.

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

2.2 or equivalent

Degree subject

All subjects* (excluding UK degrees in a business-related subject, for which our Academic & Professional Courses are more suitable) *Degrees in dance, drama, music, sport, art, and art and design will be considered on a case by case basis and are reviewed closely for their academic content

Additional entry requirements

Applicants should normally have a good undergraduate degree from a recognised higher education institution in the UK or overseas in disciplines other than business or management. Applicants from overseas may hold a non-UK degree in any discipline.

If you do not meet the academic requirements for this course, you may be able to study one of the International Graduate Diploma programmes offered by our partner INTO UEA. These programmes guarantee progression to selected masters degrees if students achieve the appropriate grade. For more details please click here:

International Graduate Diploma in Business

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.5 (minimum 5.5 in all components)
PTE (Pearson): 58 (minimum 42 in all components)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be offering Pre-sessional courses online from June to September 2020. Further details can be found on our Online Pre-Sessional English webpage.

Intakes

This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.

Norwich Business School Blog

The official blog of Norwich Business School.

READ IT HERE >

Course Reference Number: 664034

MSc HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT